Perth Plane Sabotage Scare

October 6, 2003
By Geoffrey Thomas

A PERTH-BOUND Malaysia Airlines plane was grounded in Kuala Lumpur after pre-flight checks revealed wires vital for navigation and flight control systems had been cut.

Malaysian police are investigating the severe security breach, details of which emerged in newspaper reports in Malaysia yesterday.

Initial police investigations showed the plane had suffered damage which could cause it to get out of control if allowed to fly, the Malay-language Mingguan Malaysia reported.

"What's certain is that the damage was quite severe and now we are focusing on who is responsible for this," a police source told the newspaper.

Engineers conducting the pre-flight checks at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) late on Thursday night discovered the damage on the Airbus A330.

It was two hours before departure to Kuching and Perth.

According to insiders at the airline, the damaged wires were in seven bundles under the cockpit in the avionics bay, which houses most of the plane's computer and flight control systems and is accessible from the flight deck.

The airline substituted another plane, which operated without incident.

The grounded plane had arrived from Singapore.

Malaysian police believe the sabotage was an inside job.

Malaysia Airlines confirmed the incident yesterday.

"The plane was not released when pre-departure checks indicated inoperable wiring on board," said corporate services senior general manager Mohamaddon Abdullah.

"Upon further inspection, it was learnt that there could be a possible security breach and the police were promptly notified," he said.

"There were some discrepancies in the aircraft's systems. The matter is now in the capable hands of the police investigating team with whom we are working very closely."

Safety experts said that while the plane and passengers would not have been in danger because faults are picked up by the plane's diagnostic checks, the concern was that someone was able to attack the plane.

"I wouldn't be as concerned about what was done to the aircraft. I would however have been deeply worried about what may have been hidden on board," said a safety expert who declined to be named.

"I very much doubt that this damage was done by an airline employee, because they would know that any sabotage would be picked up by the pre-flight checks.

"It is more likely the action of a contract worker, perhaps a cleaner, who has little knowledge of aircraft or their systems."

An Airbus spokesman said that the A330 was one of the most sophisticated planes flying.

"Any fault no matter how minor would be detected by the aircraft's monitoring systems," he said.

The Airbus A330, which entered service in the early 1990s has never been involved in an airline accident.
The incident will lead to more rigorous screening of airport and airline staff at KLIA, which is considered one of the region's most secure airports.

Malaysia Airlines had been considered one of the world's safest airlines in the post-September 11, 2001, terrorist environment because Malaysia is a Muslim nation and the airline carries nationals.
The A330 incident is not the first problem the airline has had with wiring concerns.

After KLIA opened in the late 1990s, the airline found a rat on board a Perth-bound Boeing 777, forcing the plane to return. The pilots were concerned that the rat may have chewed through cables. The plane was grounded until the rat was caught.

http://www.thewest.com.au/20031006/news/perth/tw-news-perth-home-sto113909.html